Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Field measurement of wind characteristics and induced tree response during strong storms

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Forestry Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Typhoons have caused considerable damage to individual tree and forest ecosystems. To reduce wind-induced tree damage and better predict the risk of damage, improving our understanding of wind-tree interactions during strong wind conditions is important. To this purpose, wind characteristics and movements of an individual Betula platyphylla Suk. in a forest stand were monitored during three typhoons (Bavi, Maysak and Haishen). Results revealed that the average wind twists with increasing height, with a large twist gradient within the canopy and a small twist gradient outside the canopy. The maximum wind twist angle was approximately 110°. The disturbance of trees increases the turbulence intensity of the wind field in the canopy. The maximum power of the wind spectra and the turbulence anisotropy of the three turbulence components decrease with increasing height. B. platyphylla did not resonate with the wind in any of the typhoons but responded strongly to gusts near its free vibration peak frequencies. The peak frequency of the mechanical transfer function of B. platyphylla is essentially the same as the peak frequency of the response power spectra. The mechanical transfer function of the wind-induced response of the tree is almost the same as the transfer function of the damped harmonic oscillator which has similar characteristics to coniferous trees.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amtmann R (1986) Dynamische Windbelastung von Nadelbäumen. Forstl Forschungsber Miinch 74:52

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker CJ (1997) Measurements of the natural frequencies of trees. J Exp Bot 48(310):1125–1132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baldocchi D, Meyers T (1988) Turbulence structure in a deciduous forest. Boundary Layer Meteorol 43:345–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartens J, Wiseman P, Smiley E (2010) Stability of landscape trees in engineered and conventional urban soil mixes. Urban for Urban Green 9:333–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Bonnefond JM, Irvine MR, Lamaud E, Brunet Y (2011) Long-distance edge effects in a pine forest with a deep and sparse trunk space: in situ and numerical experiments. Agric for Meteorol 151(3):328–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Défossez P, Bonnefond J, Irvine M, Garrigou D (2018) How stand tree motion impacts wind dynamics during windstorms. Agric for Meteorol 262:42–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everham EM, Brokaw NVL (1996) Forest damage and recovery from catastrophic wind. Bot Rev 62(2):113–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer A, Marshall P, Camp A (2013) Disturbances in deciduous temperate forest ecosystems of the northern hemisphere: their effects on both recent and future forest development. Biodivers Conserv 22:1863–1893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flesch T, Wilson J (1999) Wind and remnant tree sway in forest cutblocks. II. Relating measured tree sway to wind statistics. Agric for Meteorol 93:243–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner B (1994) Wind and wind forces in a plantation spruce forest. Boundary Layer Meteorol 67:161–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner B (1995) The interaction of wind and tree movement in forest canopies. In: Coutts MP, Grace J (eds) Wind and trees. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 41–59

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner B, Blennow K, Carnus, Fleischer P, Ingemarson F, Landmann G, Lindner M, Marzano M, Nicoll B, Orazio C, Peyron JL, Reviron, Schelhaas, Schuck A, Spielmann, Usbeck T (2010) Destructive storms in European forests: past and forthcoming impacts. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1420.4006.

  • Hanewinkel M, Cullmann D, Schelhaas MJ, Nabuurs GJ, Zimmermann N (2013) Climate change may cause severe loss in economic value of European forestland. Nat Clim Chang 3:203–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haritos N, James K (2008) Dynamic response characteristics of urban trees. In: Proceedings of Australian Earthquake Engineering Society conference.

  • Hassinen A, Lemettinen M, Peltola H, Kellomäki S, Gardiner B (1998) A prism-based system for monitoring the swaying of trees under wind loading. Agric for Meteorol 90(3):187–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbo HR, Corbett TC, Horton PJ (1980) Aeromechanical behavior of selected Douglas-fir. Agric Meteorol 21:81–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James KR, Haritos N, Ades PK (2006) Mechanical stability of trees under dynamic loads. Am J Bot 93(10):1522–1530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaimal J, Finnigan J (1994) Atmospheric boundary layer flows: their structure and measurement. Oxford University Press, New York, p 289

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Liu F, Wang CK, Wang XC, Zhang JS, Zhang Z, Wang JJ (2016) Spatial patterns of biomass in the temperate broadleaved deciduous forest within the fetch of the Maoershan flux tower. Acta Ecol Sin 36:6506–6519 ((in Chinese))

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer H (1987) Wind-induced tree sway. Trees 1:195–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer H (1989) Windthrow. Philosoph Trans R Soc Lond B 324:267–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer H, Dr H (1985) Baumschwingungen und Sturmgefährdung des Waldes. Münchener Universitäts-Schriften 51:99–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell S (2012) Wind as a natural disturbance agent in forests: a synthesis. Forestry 86:147–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peltola H (1996) Swaying of trees in response to wind and thinning in a stand of Scots pine. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 77:285–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez M, de Langre E, Moulia B (2008) A scaling law for the effects of architecture and allometry on tree vibration modes suggests a biological tuning to modal compartmentalization. Am J Bot 95(12):1523–1537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roodbaraky H, Baker C, Dawson A, Wright C (1994) Experimental observations of the aerodynamic characteristics of urban trees. J Wind Eng Ind Aerodyn 52:171–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnicki M, Meyer TH, Lieffers VJ, Silins U, Webb VA (2008) The periodic motion of lodgepole pine trees as affected by collisions with neighbors. Trees 22(4):475–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scannell B (1984) Quantification of the interactive motions of the atmospheric surface layer and a conifer canopy. PhD thesis, Cranfield Institute of Technology, Bedford

  • Schelhaas MJ, Nabuurs GJ, Schuck A (2003) Natural disturbances in the European forests in the 19th and 20th centuries. Glob Chang Biol 9:1620–1633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler D (2008) Responses of Scots pine trees to dynamic wind loading. Agric for Meteorol 148:1733–1742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler D, Mohr M (2018) Non-oscillatory response to wind loading dominates movement of Scots pine trees. Agric for Meteorol 250–251:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler D, Vogt R, Fugmann H, Rodriguez M, Schönborn J, Mayer H (2010) Vibration behavior of plantation-grown Scots pine trees in response to wind excitation. Agric for Meteorol 150:984–993

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler D, Schönborn J, Fugmann H, Mayer H (2013) Responses of an individual deciduous broadleaved tree to wind excitation. Agric for Meteorol 177:69–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellier D, Fourcaud T, Lac P (2006) A finite element model for investigating effects of aerial architecture on tree oscillations. Tree Physiol 26(6):799–806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellier D, Brunet Y, Fourcaud T (2008) A numerical model of tree aerodynamic response to a turbulent airflow. Forestry 81:279–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stacey GR, Belcher RE, Gardiner C (1994) Wind flows and forces in a model spruce forest. Boundary Layer Meteorol 69(3):311–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XC, Wang CK, Li QL (2015) Wind regimes above and below a temperate deciduous forest canopy in complex terrain: interactions between slope and valley winds. Atmosphere 6:60–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XC, Wang CK, Guo QX, Wang J (2016) Improving the CO2 storage measurements with a single profile system in a tall-dense-canopy temperate forest. Agric for Meteorol 228–229:327–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XC, Liu F, Wang CK (2019) Towards a standardized protocol for measuring leaf area index in deciduous forests with litterfall collection. For Ecol Manag 447:87–94 ((in Chinese))

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu JJ, Gonda Y, Matsuzaki T, Yamamoto M (2003) Modeling relative wind speed by optical stratification porosity within the canopy of a coastal protective forest at different stem densities. Silva Fenn 37(2):189–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, People’s Republic of China

    Haixin Jiang, Hongfu Zhang, Dabo Xin, Yagebai Zhao, Junliang Cao, Baichao Wu & Yikun Su

Authors
  1. Haixin Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hongfu Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dabo Xin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yagebai Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Junliang Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Baichao Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yikun Su
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hongfu Zhang or Dabo Xin.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Project funding: The work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2572020DF03), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2572019DF06), and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51878131).

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com

Corresponding editor: Tao Xu

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 1594 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jiang, H., Zhang, H., Xin, D. et al. Field measurement of wind characteristics and induced tree response during strong storms. J. For. Res. 33, 1505–1516 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-021-01427-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-021-01427-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation